Bronx continues to curb Delta variant
BY ROBBIE SEQUEIRA
Good news, Bronxites. The
spread of COVID-19 in New
York City’s northernmost borough
continues to trend downward,
as the Bronx’s average
of 135 new confi rmed cases
per day total entering Monday,
Oct. 18, is its lowest daily count
since mid-June.
While vaccination totals in
the Bronx are still relatively
low compared to its fellow boroughs
— only 59% are fully
vaccinated with 68.2% having
received at least one dose —
the Bronx has the lowest daily
caseload per 100,000 residents
of the fi ve boroughs.
For the fi rst time since the
COVID-19 pandemic took full
swing in March 2020, no Bronx
zip code has a seven-day positivity
rate per 100,000 residents
higher than the city’s median
average of 7.6 cases per 100,000.
Queen’s Breezy Point 11697
zip code and Brooklyn’s Williamsburg
11211 zip code hold
the city’s highest seven-day
caseload of 33.7 and 24.6 cases
per 100,000. By comparison,
the Morris Heights 10453 zip
code is the highest of all Bronx
municipalities with 9.4.
The borough has fallen behind,
however, when it comes
to getting shots in arms, with
only fi ve zip codes passing the
city’s 72% vaccination rate median.
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, O 6 CT. 22-28, 2021 BTR
Morris Park’s 10461 zip
code also has the Bronx’s
highest vaccination rate with
78.2%.
Five other Bronx zip codes
— Riverdale’s 10471 (76.7%),
Parkchester’s 10462 (76%), City
Island’s 10464 (74.4%) and Concourse/
Melrose’s 10451 (73.2%)
and Kingsbridge’s 10463
(71.6%) — continue to outpace
the rest of the borough with
vaccination rates eclipsing
70%.
In a South Bronx stop on
Friday, NYC mayoral candidate
and current Brooklyn
Borough president Eric Adams,
a Democrat, called on
the city to scale up its vaccinate
incentive amounts in lowincome
neighborhoods in the
city. South Bronx zip codes are
teetering around 60% in regards
to vaccination rates.
The highly contagious
Delta variant of COVID-19
making up 98% of all new virus
cases citywide, but the rate
of transmission is plunging
thanks to the ongoing vaccination
effort, according to the
latest New York City Health
Department data.
The transmission rate —
used to gauge the community
spread of COVID-19 — has
dropped citywide to 94.52 cases
per 100,000 people. Manhattan,
Queens and the Bronx are seeing
transmission rates below
the citywide fi gure, with numbers
far higher in Brooklyn
and Staten Island.
People line up outside Yankee stadium for vaccines amid the COVID-19 pandemic in the Bronx. Photo REUTERS/
Carlo Allegri/File Photo